The Peacock
by WhiteWolf1031
Summary: Bunnymund meets the new Guardian, Rivera. River is the Guardian of Emotion and Creativity. She likes the Easter Bunny but she is afraid to admit it.
1. Decorating

It was a few years after Bunny and the rest of the Guardians had defeated Pitch Black. North invited all the Guardians and spirits to his New Years celebration like he did every year. Everyone would be there; the Tooth Fairy, Jack Frost, Sandy, Mother Nature, the Guardian of Summer, Jack Skellington, Father Time, and so many more. North's house was always filled to the brim on New Years with Guardians from all over the world. Each year North comes up with a different theme for the party. This year was dedicated to the newest Guardian, Rivera.

River was the new Guardian of Emotion and Creativity. She was said to be a cross between a peacock and a human. Bunny had never met her before but he knew she would be at North's party. Bunnymund was getting ready for the party down in The Warren. He had to round up all of the egg guards and make sure that they would watch over The Warren while he was away. Soon enough, it was time for him to leave. Bunny took one last look around until he thumped the ground twice with his foot and jumped into the magical rabbit hole.

Tooth, Jack Frost, North, and Sandman were still putting up colorful peacock decorations in North's house when a hole opened up right in the center of the room. Bunny hopped out and the hole closed back up. "Bunny! You made it." cried North as he walked over to give Bunnymund one of his spine cracking bear hugs.

"You're... chrushing me mate." Bunny said with a weasy breath.

North put Bunny down before saying "Sorry. Could you help with decorations?".

"Yeah, I'll help out." Bunny said as he stretched out his back. Tooth fluttered over to Bunny and handed him some table cloths and fake peacock feathers. Bunny scurried around the room putting the decorations where Tooth had told him to. Tooth was putting up the decorations that were high up. Jack was getting the music and lights ready. North was cooking all the food while Sandman carefully placed all of it on the counter in the ginormous living room were the party was going to be held.

After an hour or so, Bunny and the others flopped onto the couches and admired the vibrant colors that now danced across the walls and furniture. It wouldn't be too long now before the other Guardians would arrive. Jack started to get bored and began making it snow on top of Bunny.

Bunny threw a glare at Jack and warned "You'd better cut it out mate.".

"Or what?" Jack asked chuckling. Bunnymund stomped the floor with his foot and Jack fell into the hole that appeared from beneath him and fell from the portal that opened up in the ceiling. He landed flat on his face and groaned while he slowly got up. Bunnymund laughed as he watched Jack stumble around for a bit before regaining his ballance. Jack sat on a couch next to Tooth and the cloud that was hovering over Bunny disappeared.

"Do that again and I'll send you to Hawaii." Bunny said as he watched in amusement at Jack rubbing his nose. It wasn't long after that when people began to pour into North's house and the party had started.

**-This is my first FanFiction chapter ever. I have never done this before and I'm very happy to show it to you;)**


	2. NewYears

"I agree. It is very stressful to have your own holiday." North said to Bunny. North turned his head and focused on the spot right next to Jack Skellington. Bunny directed his attention to the same spot. He was confused and didn't know what he was supposed to be looking at until some bright blue feathers started to swirl around in the air next to Skellington. Suddenly, an explosion of feathers took place in the center of the living room. The feathers fell to the floor revealing a beautiful peacock-human hybrid. Some of the Guardians turned and stared at her while others resumed what they were doing.

Bunnymund couldn't help but to stare. He saw that she had a bright iridescent plumage of teal, navy, green, purple, and black. She had feathers covering her entire body except for her hands and face. Her head was also covered in feathers like a crown similar to Tooth's. Her eyes were a bright shade of blue and green. She also had a big tail of peacock feathers that flowed up to her head like a fox's or a squirrel's. She was the most colorful thing Bunny had ever seen. She immediately started talking to Jack Skellington who was standing next to her with Sally.

"We're so glad you could make it! We were just dying to meet you!" the ever enthusiastic Jack exclaimed excitedly before laughing at his little pun.

"Thank you. I'm glad I could come." Rivera replied with a grin.

"Hello, my name is Sally" Sally said before holding out her hand.

Rivera shook it and said "Hi. My name's Rivera, but you can just call me River.". River went around the room and introduced herself to everyone. And she seemed to get along nicely with Toothiana who, as she was quite thrilled to see, was also a bird-human hybrid. Although, River did find Tooth to be a little overexcited.

There was only one person in the room that River couldn't stop glancing at while she was seated on one of the couches. She assumed that he was the Easter Bunny since he was the only Pooka in the room. She immediately began scolding herself when she remembered what had happened to his village. She felt so sorry for him. These thoughts slowly vanished as she looked him up and down. He was tall and masculine with dark blue fur and bright green eyes. He had patterns in his fur that reminded her of his Easter eggs she would find when she was a little girl. From across the room, Bunny had watched River as she met with so many people and figured it was best to wait until she wasn't being poured on with questions to introduce himself. Bunny noticed River was finally alone and was sitting on one of the couches.

He walked over to her and asked "Mind if I take a seat?".

Rivera shook her head, moved over a bit, and said "Go ahead.".

Bunnymund sat down and waited a few moments before saying "I don't think we've met. The name's Bunnymund or Bunny for short".

River looked up from fiddling with her feathers and said "My name is Rivera, but I prefer River. I'm the new Guardian of Emotion and Creativity. Speaking of creativity, I love your holiday.".

"You do?" Bunny was intrigued as to the reason why she was so fond of Easter.

River replied calmly "Of coarse I do. Easter is my favorite day of the entire year. It's filled with so many bright decorations and **colors.** It's impossible to keep me from going outside on Easter.".

"I'm glad you like it. I spend a lot of time making sure everything is just right." Bunny said.

"Well you do an amazing job at that." River replied.

River thought for a while before saying "It's just sad that Jack had to completely ruin it when he threw that blizzard on Easter.".

At those words, Jack came over to where River and Bunny were sitting and said "Oh, come on you guys. Lighten up. I was only having a bit of fun.".

"You mean like this?" River flicked her hand at Jack and paint came springing at his face.

"Woah!" Jack yelled as the paint hit him. He fell backwards and Bunny burst out laughing. When Jack got back up, he had bright colored smudges all over his face.

When Jack was out of earshot, Bunny looked at River and said "Now _that_ was fun mate. I didn't know you could do that.".

"I can also see and manipulate other people's feelings." River stated as she tucked a feather from her head back into place. A pale shade of lilac started to spread across her face. This startled Bunnymund until he realized that it was most likely River's way of blushing.

"You can?" Bunny asked.

River replied "Yup.". She looked around the room and her gaze landed on Tooth. "I'll try it on Tooth." River bought her hand up and a whispy smoke-like trail of blue left her fingers and made its way to the fluttering fairy. When the blue trail touched Tooth's back, River started giggling.

"What?" Bunny asked.

"Oh hehe, oh my goodness. She likes Jack...a lot!" River and Bunny started laughing uncontrollably for at least 5 minutes until they could stop.

River and Bunnymund talked for the rest of the time until the party was over and River had to leave.

"You want me to take you home?" Bunny asked.

"Well I don't exactly have one." Rivera replied fixing her tail feathers.

"Really? Would you want to come with me to The Warren? I have the room. After all it's just me there.".

"Oh, no. It's fine. I'll manage." River was actually shocked. She couldn't believe how nice he was. She started blushing after this thought.

"Okay then. Well, you can always visit whenever you'd like." Bunny said with a grin. He didn't want his new friend to not have a place to go if she needed it.

"Okay, then I guess I'll have to do that sometime." River said before giving him a smile that seemed to light up the entire room and disappeared in a cascade of feathers. Bunny's pulse refused to slow down as he waited for everyone to leave so he could help clean up. But every now and then, his thoughts would flit back to River's pretty blue-green eyes.

**\- This chapter was a little harder to piece together but overall, I think it went smoothly =D**


	3. TheWarren

Rivera was sitting on a tree branch next to a stream. She couldn't stop thinking about the New Years party and how she met Bunnymund. She wondered when she would see him again. River smiled at the thought of sitting next to him at Norrh's house where she could almost smell the faint aroma of spring floating around Bunny. River's thoughts were cut short as she shot up from her comfortable position. Something was wrong. She felt something familiar but this time it was much stronger... much worse. It was fear and it was coming from the north. Her mind immediately focused on one thing only. Pitch Black.

Rivera landed in North's workshop in just enough time to see a flash of gold dreamsand flicker toward Pitch. Sandman, North, Bunnymund, Tooth, and Jack Frost were all in the room trying to get rid of Pitch. River saw Pitch get a hold of Bunnymund's leg with his nightmare sand. The sand yanked Bunnymund's leg sideways and he gave out a yelp before falling to the ground. Anger washed over Rivera and she wasted no time in pinning Pitch to the floor. Pitch looked up at her with an almost shocked expression on his face. River fanned out her tail feathers threateningly.

She brought her face close to his and said "How _dare_ you.". Her eyes glowed with rage as she put a hand to each side of his head. A blue light flashed from her fingertips like lightning. She waited until Pitch went limp before she stood up. When Pitch woke up a few moments later, his eyes were wide with fear. He looked completely terrified. He ran from the workshop and fled from the house. River closed her tail feathers back up and rushed over to where Bunnymund had fallen. River asked "Are you alright?".

Bunny was a little shocked at what River did to Pitch but when he found his voice, he said "I'll be fine mate. Just a sprain.".

North turned to River and asked "What did you do to him?" and he nodded his head in the direction that Pitch went.

"I guess you could say I gave him a taste of his own medicine. I made him afraid." River replied.

After a while, Tooth said "Thank you for helping us River.".

Rivera smiled and said "Of coarse! I couldn't just let that idiot get away with hurting my friends.".

"Well thank goodness for that or Kangaroo here might have been done for." Jack said with a smirk. Bunnymund glared at Jack while he got off the floor.

"I should probably get back to The Warren before it gets to be chaos down there." Bunny said.

"I'll come with. It's not good for a rabbit to have a broken leg." River said. She didn't want him to get hurt any more than he already was. When he didn't object, River walked over to him. Bunny tapped the ground with his foot using his good leg and jumped into the rabbit hole. River followed and when they got to The Warren, she had to stop. She was wide-eyed and speechless. She had never seen anything more beautiful in her life. There were big trees, lush green hills, and **flowers**, so many flowers. Bunny grinned as some eggs bumped into River's foot and she picked them up. "Oh my goodness. They're adorable." she said smiling and put them back down. "I can't believe that I've never been here before. It's... It's beautiful." River said.

"I've always thought so." Bunnymund said before wincing again.

"Here, let me help." River said as she raised a hand to his leg. The blue smoke-like trail curled around Bunny's leg. Bunny could feel the pain slipping away as River put her hand down and the blue disappeared.

"You didn't have to do that mate." Bunny said.

River replied "Your right, I didn't have to do that. I wanted to.". River could feel heat rising up the back of her neck and a light shade of lilac creeped across her face.

Bunny grinned and said "Well thank you.". They sat down in the grass and talked for a few hours until River realized what time it was.

"I have to go. It's getting late." she said as she stood up. River helped Bunny stand up before saying "You should try to stay off your leg until it's completely healed.".

Bunny smiled and said "Ok, I'll try.". River smiled back at him.

"Good-bye. I'll come back again to check on you." and she disappeared again in a flurrie of blue feathers.

**\- I'm sorry I couldn't get this chapter finished sooner :( I've been very busy with school lately. Hope you liked it anyway;) P.S. I'll work on the dialogue**


	4. Afraid

River was telling the truth. She did come back. River had been coming to the Warren for two weeks now helping Bunny's leg heal. If Bunny was in pain, then River would numb it. If he needed something done, River would do it.

Except this time, when River came by she gave Bunny a smile and said "I think your leg is all healed up. You should be able to run now.".

"So that means I can do _this_." .Bunny pounced at River but she had dodged him and was running through the door of the small building that served as Bunny's house (even though he almost never used it). Bunny chased River up and down hills and through a meadow before he caught up to her. They both fell and started laughing.

River said "I don't even remember the last time I played a game like that.".

"Me neither mate, but that was fun." Bunny replied before he realized that River was smirking at him.

"What?" Bunny asked. River brought her hand up and rubbed the side of his neck right under the jawline. Bunny's eyes became half-lided and he dropped his ears in content. River put her hand down and Bunny came back to reality.

He looked embarrassed and asked "Where did you learn that?".

"Jack told me about what happened to you in the battle with Pitch." River replied.

Bunny huffed "Of coarse he did.".

"Oh, don't worry. I know you were embarrassed." River reassured him. Bunny hadn't even noticed the blue smoke dancing around his ankle. As soon as he looked at it, it disappeared and River was fiddling with her feathers as her cheeks turned lilac.

"Trust me, I really do know how you feel." and Bunny knew she was telling the truth.

"I don't doubt that." Bunny said. "It must be strange to feel emotions that aren't yours."

River replied "I guess, a little. I've gotten used to it. It's only a little weird when someone's feeling a negative emotion like fear.". Bunny thought about his fear of heights. River could sense this and said "Why don't we go on a little trip."

"Where to mate?" he asked.

River snickered and said "Oh, you'll see.". Before Bunny could respond, he was blinded by bright blue feathers.

When the feathers fell Bunnymund was paralyzed with fear. He was sitting on a mountain cliff somewhere hot and humid. Bunny was about to pass out, but River held him steady.

"Its ok, just take some deep breaths." River said as helped him sit down.

"H-h-how did you...".

River cut him off "I know fear when I see it, or rather feel it.". Bunny was closing his eyes, trying to forget where he was. "Open your eyes Bunnymund." River said calmly. He slowly open his eyes and took in the view. The seemingly endless mountain range was covered in trees that looked hazy silver-blue in the moonlight.

'It's beautiful' thought Bunny. Then he looked at River. Bunny felt his face get warmer. She looked like she belonged there, blending in perfectly with everything around her. The moonlight was gently shimmering over her feathers making her look like a colorful version of an angel. Rivers stunning teal eyes looked like they were glowing, like they were absorbing the beautiful moonlight. Bunny thought 'She's beautiful. How could I be afraid of anything with her next to me?'.

River looked at Bunnymund and asked "You still want to get down?"

"No, not anymore mate." Bunny replied and he thought to himself 'Not as long as your up here too.'

They stayed there until Bunnymund had to get back to the Warren. They said good bye before Bunny tapped the ground with his foot and jumped into the rabbit hole and back to his home.

**\- Hello, I loved making this chapter for you guys:) Hope you liked it cuz I'm writing more;)**


	5. SleepPainting

Rivera was bored the day after she went tmountains River was bored the day after her trip to the mountains with Bunnymund. She thought about going to The Warren but she wasn't sure if Bunny was busy or not. River decided on going to North's house instead.

When River arrived at North's workshop, It was empty. Rivera was confused until she remembered that she was in a different time zone and it was early in the morning in the North Pole. She was about to go back when she heard someone say "Rivera? What are you doing here?".

River turned around and saw North get up from the work table. She hadn't noticed him. He didn't look angry, just curious. Rivera replied "I guess I was looking for something to do. The town I just visited is filled with as much color and music as I could get it. I was wondering if you needed help with anything?".

"I do not have a problem with you being here but I do not think there is anything I need you to do right now." North said scratching his head.

River looked around the room and shuddered involuntarily at the sight of it "Holy paint canvas, the walls are so empty!".

North looked at her confused "What do you mean.".

Rivera made a bird-like shriek and said "There's nothing there! No paintings! Is it like this in every room?!".

North laughed in comprehension before saying "I have not thought about that before. You can paint whatever you would like.".

"Really?" River asked "How many can I make? Where can I put them?".

North grinned at Rivera as he said "You can make as many as you want and put them up wherever you would like to.".

River's smile lit up the entire room. She snapped her fingers and a stack of at least thirty blank paint canvases appeared next to her. "This will take a while.".

River took all the canvases to the living room where she saw Sandman sleeping on the sofa. She snapped her fingers again and music started to play from out of nowhere. Rivera flinched as she looked toward Sandy but he didn't wake up. She let out the breath she'd been holding and went to work.

Paint flew from her hands and danced onto the canvases. Each painting was more beautiful and intricate than the last. Rivera painted for hours using her large tail feathers as a huge fan to dry finished paintings. She got occasional visits from North who brought her food. Sandy also woke up a few times and floated to wherever Rivera was in the house to watch her or to admire the paintings.

River only stopped painting once it was late into the night and she was exhausted. Rivera flopped onto the sofa in the living room and fell right asleep. North came in shortly after to see how River and Sandy were doing. When he saw them both sleeping, he turned off the light and left the room so they could get some rest. North left a note on the front door for Sandy saying to give Jack a dream or two because he'd been having nightmares about his sister again.

Sandy woke up in the middle of the night because he felt something on his arm. He looked down and saw that it was paint. His attention was immediately focused on the little bubbles of paint that were floating around the room, circling River. Rivera's finger twitched and Sandy saw an empty canvas materialize in the middle of the room. He had to duck as paint came flying toward the canvas. When Sandy lifted his eyes to the canvas, he saw that it was a painting of Bunnymund. The painting was so detailed that it looked as if it was a picture taken by a camera. Sandy almost couldn't believe Rivera had done it in her sleep, though he had a pretty good idea of why it happened. He smiled as he thought to himself 'Your secret is safe with me Rivera. It's not like I could tell anyone anyways'. Sandy took North's note off the front door and floated out on his golden cloud to give dreams to all the kids in the world.

River woke up and blinked the sleep out of her eyes before she looked at the clock. It was around 9:30AM. She saw Sandy sleeping in the same spot he was when she went to sleep. However, she knew he had a busy night just like every night. River felt kind of bad for him because he has to stay up all night long and then try to get some sleep during the day. He's practically nocturnal. Her thoughts paused as she noticed a canvas on the floor. River walked over to it and picked it up. Rivera's eyes went wide and her jaw dropped. Her face instantly started burning up. A portal opened up in the floor and Bunnymund jumped through. It scared River half to death so she jumped back and let out a shrill bird call while her tail feathers fanned out swiftly.

Bunny put his hands up in surrender "Woah! It's just me! I didn't mean to startle you mate.".

"S-sorry about that." River said shakily. Her face was an extremely deep shade of lilac at that point.

"Um... why'd you come here?".

"Oh, well...," Bunnymund didn't want to admit that he was looking for Rivera so he said "I guess I just wanted to stop by to see what everyone was up to."

River realized that his gaze wasn't focused on her face but on the bright tail feathers that were towering over her head. She closed her feathers and Bunny's attention snapped back to Rivera's eyes. "Well I got here early yesterday morning and I realized that North didn't have anything hanging up on his walls so I kinda just, well... you can see it for yourself." River motioned to the walls. Bunnymund's ears dropped in amazement as he stared at the paintings on the high reaching walls.

"Wow! Y-you did this all on your own... in one day?!" Bunny exclaimed.

Rivera started fiddling with her tail feathers as she said "Um... yes. There are paintings in all of the rooms and hallways in the house.".

Bunnymund's stare moved from painting to painting and he said "They're stunning.". Bunnymund noticed that River had a painting in her hands and his ears perked up in curiosity. "What's that one mate?" He asked.

Rivera's blush deepened as she said "W-w-well I-I just um...," she slowly turned the painting around so it was facing Bunny. Bunnymund froze when he saw what was painted on the canvas. He couldn't look away. He leaned in closer to it so he could take in every detail. She painted him onto the canvas. He didn't think that a painting could get any more realistic.

"I m-may have p-painted you in my sleep." Rivera stuttered as she turned the painting back around. She unfurled her wings and flew up to an open spot on a wall and put up the painting. River landed and rehid her wings.

Bunnymund was about to say something but North walked in with two plates and said "I made breakfast. Oh! I didn't know you were coming Bunny. I can make you something too if you want.

"No, that's alright mate. I wasn't planning to stay for long." Bunny said.

"Well maybe River would like to go with you. I know she likes going to The Warren." North suggested.

Bunnymund smiled "I think that's a great idea. The eggs seem to like her.".

River fidgeted with her feathers as she said "Sure, I'll go with.".

North walked over to Sandy and tapped his shoulder "Sandy, wake up!". Sandy's eyes snapped open. North set the plate down in front of Sandy on the coffee table. North handed the second plate to River. They all sat down on the couches and talked while Sandy and Rivera ate.

When they were done, Bunnymund opened up a rabbit hole and said "We'd better go River.".

"Ok, I'm ready." River replied.

**-Sorry for keeping you waiting :( I was busy with school, brainstorming ideas for the chapter, and I also just kept forgetting to write. Oh well, we're not done yet ;)**


End file.
